The invention relates to a device and a method for cleaning and/or disinfecting endoscopes having a plurality of channels.
A known device for cleaning and/or disinfecting endoscopes with a plurality of channels is disclosed in European patent application EP 0 709 056. This known device comprises at least one rinsing basin, in which an endoscope which is to be cleaned and/or disinfected can be placed, a housing in which, inter alia, a system of lines, pumps and valves is accommodated for the purpose of feeding a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent to an endoscope which has been placed in a rinsing basin, means for connecting the channels of an endoscope which has been placed in the rinsing basin to the system of lines, pumps and valves, and control means for controlling the pumps and valves, the system of lines, pumps and valves comprising a feedline for a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent for each endoscope channel, each feedline having an outlet which can be connected to the endoscope channel and a shut-off valve which is accommodated in the feedline.
The shut-off valves of the feedlines are accommodated in a unit which is connected on one side to the system of lines, pumps and valves and on the other side is provided with outlets to which the endoscope channels can be connected. When this device is used for cleaning and/or disinfecting an endoscope with a plurality of channels each channel is connected to a feedline for a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent and flushed with a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent. When flushing the endoscope channels with a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent channels of substantially the same passage width are flushed simultaneously.
In other known cleaning and disinfection systems for endoscopes, all the channels are flushed simultaneously.
The known cleaning and disinfection systems for endoscopes have the drawback that the cleaning and disinfection is not always optimal. This drawback is related to the design of the most usual types of endoscopes. Various types of endoscopes have two or more channels, the diameter of which varies between 0.8 and 4.2 mm. A standard type of endoscope has two channels with a relatively large passage width, the suction channel and the biopsy channel, of a diameter which lies between 2.0 and 4.5 mm, three channels with a relatively small passage width, the air channel, the water channel and the jet channel, of a diameter of, for example, 0.7 mm, and a very narrow channel, the so-called lift channel. The lift channel has to be considered as a channel with an internal diameter of 0.5 mm, in which a screw thread with an external diameter of 0.3 mm is accommodated, so that a gap of 0.1 mm remains. Moreover, endoscopes have a complex system of channels in which, for reasons of compactness, two channels frequently merge into a common channel part which has a double function. This merging takes place in the head part of the endoscope. Thus, for example, the air channel and the water channel are combined to form an air/water channel, and the suction and the biopsy channel are combined to form a suction/biopsy channel. In certain types of endoscopes, three channels may even merge to form a common channel part. A drawback of this merging of channels into a common channel part is that when the channels are flushed simultaneously during the cleaning and/or disinfection the flow in one of the channels may decrease or even come to a standstill. As a result, there is a risk that the channel in question will be insufficiently cleaned and/or disinfected, or will not be cleaned and/or disinfected at all.